


Delicate

by tylerandburnham



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29570073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tylerandburnham/pseuds/tylerandburnham
Summary: Georgiou comes back through the Guardian of Forever close to her old time period and she finds Ash Tyler in charge of Section 31. They discuss the Discovery crew, including Michael Burnham.
Relationships: Michael Burnham/Ash Tyler | Voq
Kudos: 12





	Delicate

Delicate

“Sometimes I wonder when you sleep

Are you ever dreaming of me?

Sometimes when I look into your eyes

I pretend you're mine, all the damn time

'Cause I like you

Is it cool that I said all that?

Is it chill that you're in my head?

'Cause I know that it's delicate (delicate)

Yeah, I want you” - Delicate by Taylor Swift

Director Ash Tyler paused after stepping out of his office.

“Is something wrong, Director?”

Tyler looked up into his Section 31 second-in-command’s quizzical face. He smiled quickly trying to put her at ease. “No, everything’s fine, Alex. I just left something in my office. You go off and have a good evening. Nothing else will happen with that report from the Farragut tonight. We’ll touch base tomorrow and go from there as well as review reports from the field.”

Alexandra James paused for a moment and considered her boss and friend. Yes, she’d use the word friend, although he never really confided in her. Work business, of course he confided in her about that, but not about who he was. He was holding back from her some sort of deep sadness in his life. Alex knew the official report about his life, being turned into a Klington sleeper agent and then back to a human again-more or less. But her suspicions were that it had more to do with the episode of his life when he served on Discovery, the ship that was destroyed in the fight against Control. She isn’t sure why she thinks so. There was a lot of sadness in Ash Tyler’s life, he was a POW who was tortured after all, but for some reason when she thinks of his sadness she thinks of that ship that no one speaks of.

Still, it’s another thought for another time. It’s been a long day and she’s brain dead. Trying to match his smile she said, “Okay, good night. See you tomorrow.”

“Have a good evening. See you tomorrow.”

Ash waited until Alex had left before he contemplated the strange feeling that had come upon him. He felt the hairs on his arm rise as he turned and walked back into his office. When he heard the door swish closed behind him, Tyler gazed at his office chair. The chair was turned facing the window that overlooked San Francisco bathed in night time lights. But what was unsettling was the unknown person sitting in the chair looking out the window. 

“Lights!” Tyler called out. As the lights came on and Ash saw who was sitting in his chair his hands shook slightly at the shock. 

The chair swiveled and the woman sitting there smiled at him in a smile he had not seen in nearly a year and thought he would never see again. It was a smile that typically had a certain malevolent element to it. 

“Georgiou!”

“Tyler! I’ve missed you!”

“What…???” A pause. A hopeful note. “Are you…? Is she….?” He looked around his office. There was no one else.

Georgiou felt annoyance grow in her as she tried to shut it down. She was annoyed by the hopeful and loving look on Tyler’s face but more annoyed because she missed Michael too. For her the ache was new and raw. She had just said goodbye to Michael, her daughter, only days ago. Georgiou knew that it has been nearly a year since Discovery leapt into the future, leaving Ash, by all accounts of his own choosing, behind. All these self-sacrificing do-gooders were going to be the death of her. “No I’m the only one who came back.”

“How…? Why…?”

Putting her boots up on Tyler’s immaculately clean desk she said, “Turns out going to the future didn’t agree with me. The future was unraveling my body.” Before Tyler could ask Georgiou said, “Just me that was unraveling. I was the only one on the ship from the mirror universe. Our universes were too far apart in the future for me to hold together.”

Georgiou looked away for a moment. She couldn’t stand the heartbroken look in Tyler’s eyes that he tried to conceal. They couldn’t avoid saying her name forever. With an internal sigh, finally she said, “And you know what do-gooders Michael and Dr. Culber and the rest of the Discovery crew are like. They were determined to save me. We found a portal door, manned by some sort of guardian, that allowed me to travel to a safer time for me. And apparently they sent me here. The passage was only for me and only after I convinced them that I was `worthy,’” here she used air quotes. Then solemnly, “I passed and wound up here.”

There were several moments of silence before Tyler finally broke it. “I’m sure Michael misses you.” 

He walked up closer to his desk. Tyler could see some genuine tears in Georgiou’s eyes that he knew she would never allow to fall outwardly. He tried to force down the overwhelming sorrow at his dashed hopes that the return of Georgiou meant the return of Michael. 

Georgiou thought about making some quip but then she held her tongue. Instead she looked at Tyler and nodded her agreement and thanks. Clearing her throat and turning serious she said, “You and I...we’ve always had a love for Michael Burnham in common. And I wasn't sure where else to go...”

Tyler cleared his throat trying to keep his emotions in check. “Chancellor L’Rell once told me I would always be in love with Michael Burnham.”

Putting down the PADD he had been holding in his hands he went over and poured two drinks. When he walked back over to hand her the drink she moved from his office chair to the chair across from his desk. She motioned him to his own chair which he then sat down in.

“Director of Section 31? I didn’t expect the small minded brass to make such a sensible decision. Especially after they gave you such grief about turning into whatever you are now.”

Tyler gave a short laugh. It had been awhile since he had laughed and it felt good. “Yes, no one was more surprised than I was. They said I had a unique perspective.” A pause. “I’m not the only one with a unique perspective.”

Georgiou raised her eyebrows in surprise but then said. “We did make a good team.” 

“That we did.”

Tyler saw a wicked smile over her glass as she took a drink. “You should have been there when I killed Leland. I made him scream.”

Tyler turned serious. “He was taken over by the AI. It wasn’t his fault.”

Mock surprise from Georgiou, “He was always awful. Admit it. He made me look like a saint!”

Titling his head, Tyler agreed, “True. He was awful. Michael’s parents…” A pause. “How...how is the Discovery crew? Are they...okay?”

Georgiou nodded. “Yes, those annoying saints were all fine when I left. Some crew members didn’t survive the trip through the wormhole but Michael, the bridge crew, Staments, Tilly, Dr. Culber are all fine. We had lost Michael for a while. She arrived through the wormhole a year before we did. But we found her shortly after we crossed over. 930 years into the future. There were some adjustments to the future issues and some regret about what they left behind. The future’s a mess. Something called “The Burn” happened. It destroyed any ship in flight using dilithium. There’s a shortage of dilithium now and Starfleet and the Federation are in tatters. There is only a small contingent left of both. Earth’s a mess. They left Earth. Many worlds left the Federation, including those all-knowing Vulcans. Earth isn’t what it is now. We have left the universal stage and our importance has dwindled to almost nothing. Of course the Discovery crew has located the Federation and Starfleet headquarters and are trying to find out what The Burn is and trying to find a way to make a difference. Having a spore drive is certainly proving useful. ”

Tyler’s eyes widened as he tried to absorb all this new information; information he thought he would never have had.Previously, all he could do in thinking about MIchael and the Discovery crew was worry and hope. Shaking his head he said, “I thought the future would be better. That they would all land in a safe space. Michael… she got there a year before Discovery?” Tyler felt his heart plummet at the thought of what Michael must have felt and gone through during that year. What had she had to do to survive? He of all people knew what it was like to feel alone, to be the outsider. He knew what things people sometimes had to do to survive. “Michael… A year….?”

“Don’t worry. Michael’s a survivor. She made friends with an empath, an empath with plants and animals if you can believe it, who works as a courier. He helped keep her safe. She’s had some trouble readjusting to life with the Discovery crew. A year of uncertainty was too much time for her to hold out hope forever. She did what you or I would have done-moved forward. She kept looking for us but never knew when we might appear. She tried to learn about The Burn and discover what happened to Starfleet and the Federation.” With a look at Tyler’s face she added, “Don’t worry. She’s doing better and she’ll be fine. Like I said, she’s a survivor. The crew cares for her. As for the Discovery crew, for them she’d only been gone for a little bit of time. Time can be unmerciful. I’m sure you’d agree.” 

Tyler took a few deep breaths. Awkwardly and ignoring a stab of pain in his heart he said, “So you said a friend kept Michael safe for a year before Discovery appeared?”

Georgiou studied Tyler for a moment. She could see his struggle. She should have put less emphasis on the word “friend” when she had used it. Weighing the truth and a lie she finally went with the truth. Maybe the truth would help him move on. “The friend is a man who’s nickname is Book. Stupid I know.” A pause. “She’s in love with him. They’re in love with each other.”

The silence stretched on, past the point that was comfortable, as Tyler tried to reign in the tears he felt stinging his eyes and the ache he felt everywhere in his body and especially his heart. And for one brief moment he wished Georgiou anywhere but here bringing him this message. Taking in a few ragged breaths and wrangling his emotions into better control, he took a drink and said, “Good. Good. I’m glad she’s safe and happy and is…loved. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.” He took another sip of his drink.

Tyler was startled when Georgiou, in an uncharacteristic act of comfort, put her hand over his lying on the desk. Then he attempted a smile and shook his head. “To her we’ve been dead what...about 900 years. It is better that she moved on. Michael needed someone to help her find her footing in the future and I’m glad she found that person.”

Taking her hand back, Georgiou said, “That’s very noble of you.” He had always been noble, hadn’t he? He loved and protected Michael from afar when he thought she no longer cared about him or wanted him around. He never stopped loving her. Georgiou had always admired that about him, the way he loved her daughter.

Georgiou got up and stretched allowing Tyler to mourn the loss of the love of his life for a second before saying, while picking at an imaginary loose thread on her jacket, “Not to change the subject, and I know we’ve got a lot to catch up on, but I’m wondering...if my position is still active with Section 31.”

Tyler cleared his throat and said, “Starfleet thinks you died on Discovery with the crew when it `blew up’ during the defense of the universe against Control. Discovery and her crew is a highly classified subject in order to prevent anyone from learning what happened and then attempting to use time travel to alter the course of the timeline.”

Georgiou looked at Tyler and raised an eyebrow in a question.

Tyler considered Georgiou across from him. He finally said, “Section 31 can always use good agents. No one needs to know about this time portal device. I can tell them you were on a classified mission with the Klingons and we had to lead everyone to believe that you had died on Discovery. But, of course, you didn’t die there.”

Georgiou nodded and smiled as she reached out and shook Tyler’s hand. 

“I’m not going to call you, Director, Tyler.”

“That’s fine. I just need you to be good and follow my orders.”

Georgiou’s smile faltered slightly as she heard the memory of Michael whisper,  _ “Be good, Phllipa.”  _ Out loud she said, “You don’t have to worry about that.” 

Letting go she said, “Time travel has made me ravenous! Take me out to dinner. We’ll catch up some more and you can fill me in on all the interesting projects you have going on. And then we can find out where I’ll be staying while I’m here.”

Tyler nodded and with a deep internal sigh, that had only slightly to do with Georgiou, they two of them got up and headed for the door. Talking to Georgiou was an infinitely better idea than him going back to his quarters and mourn the loss of Michael all over again. Tyler knew that Michael would want him to take care of Georgiou if he could. He knew Michael loved him.Their last moments together threatened to overwhelm him so he quickly walked with Georgiou to the turbolift.

When the turbolift door closed to take them down to the entrance, Georgiou turned to Tyler and said suddenly, as if it had just occurred to her, “Do you remember that silly string you kept looping together into a knot when Michael and I first spoke to you in your quarters after I came into your universe?”

Wincing at the memory and unclear why it was being brought up, Tyler said simply, “Yes, I remember. I was tying a bowline.”

“That’s right, a bowline.” A pause. “Michael sleeps with one underneath her pillow on Discovery.”

Tyler’s head whipped to look at Georgiou next to him. She isn’t facing him but he can see the smirk on her face. “How do you….?”

Georgiou shrugged and turned slightly to face him, her expression dripping with exaggerated sweetness as she put her arm through his. Whispering conspiratorially she said, “Also, while I was going through the time portal, I saw many images. One of them was of Michael’s dear brother, that Vulcan, and a captain who was not Pike. I don’t think they’ve found the Guardian yet but they will. We need to keep a close eye on Spock. We’ve got some work to do...”


End file.
